The Infant Enigma
by typhoonboom08
Summary: Looking for creatures to assist his rule, Voldemort's forces left Perseus orphaned. Unsure of his parentage, only that he was dangerously powerful and highly impressionable, Dumbledore takes him in for protection at Hogwarts. However, as his powers continue to surface, questions as to what he could be and concerns of the nature of a being from savage lands only grow greater.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Just a little forewarning, this is a little AU from the two worlds from the get go, as one would expect from crashing two huge worlds like this together. So basically, anything you know about the American Wizarding World doesn't exist for reasons you'll find out. Also, this story's basically one, four part prequel for the main story. I'll probably put that up as its own story. Anyway, that's it. I hope you enjoy it.

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**The Infant Enigma Part 1**

The last year of the war had been absolutely crazy. Things had been bad enough before, Voldemort and his Death Eaters wreaking havoc and destruction like the Wizarding World hadn't seen in centuries. However, as impossible as it had seemed before, once a prophecy depicting his end was foretold, the rain of destruction only grew wilder, more ferocious. It was taking everything the entire society had just to hold their flimsy world together. And that was only in the magical world of the United Kingdom. The truth was, most of Wizarding Britain didn't have a clue about the full intentions of the Dark Lord or how far his actions had spread.

Voldemort was getting desperate. He was searching high and low for the child of the prophecy, determined to end him before it could ever grow to destroy him. However, that was far from all of the alterations to his plans. For as bad as things were there was still plenty of resistance. Dumbledore and those working with him in particular were an entire thorn _bush_ in his side and the Aurors had managed to capture many of his forces. He could cause enormous amounts of destruction and death, but as things were going, genuinely controlling the Wizarding World was still a desire that would be immensely difficult to grasp in the near future and if he failed to kill the child, the threat it represented had to be neutralized. So he made a move that all those who knew of it would call absolutely reckless, arrogant or desperate. He sent some of his forces to one of what Wizards had long declared the Forbidden Lands. A name given to them for good reason. Almost none of their kind had ever gone and lived to tell the tale.

There were three Countries branded with this title, all for the same reason. Monsters and dark creatures ran wild through them in swarms. Hidden within the Muggle World and the wilderness alike, they were everywhere and were far more dangerous than most anything the Wizards had ever seen, bigger and stronger than almost all of their brethren anywhere else in the world. They seemed a lot more intelligent than the average monster too, for they always found the wizards who dared enter their territory. How the Muggles survived in such places and, even more astonishingly, never noticed the malicious beasts around them was beyond all understanding to even the most informed wizards and witches, but for the most part, the dark creatures seemed to let them thrive. Wizards and witches however, were almost immediately noticed, sniffed out and slaughtered. Everyone of magical nature was taught at first opportunity to avoid all three countries at all costs. For centuries no one dared pass the borders of Greece, Italy and the USA.

Until now.

….

The New world was the most obvious choice to the dark Lord. It was far from the eyes of his enemies and their international connections, all the better to keep his actions hidden. It was a colony of England and therefore, as far as he cared, was its property and would soon rightfully be his when he took over. However, the thing that finalized his decision was its history and status in the Wizarding World. Though well disconnected from the rest of it, the USA had successfully managed to house a small society of wizards in Salem. Initially, back in early times when the colony was much more newly established, the number of monsters had been of little concern. Witches and wizards could move throughout the New World far more easily than the Muggles could ever hope to and eventually established the heart of their society in Salem. It was only in the last hundred or so years that things changed. New monsters never seen outside the Forbidden Lands appeared and bred faster than the wizards could handle and monsters only thought to exist in myths swept through the land. Before long, they were completely out of control and all the magical society was either killed and eaten or driven behind the boundaries of Salem, the only place the monsters would leave them be.

This not only gave his people a chance to find a safe place to set up a base of operations, but a better understanding of what they may find. The records were recent, details not lost through the passage of time and more extensive information could be gathered through observation on trips with a safe place to apparate to immediately being available should something notice them and attack. All in all, it sounded perfect. Voldemort quickly gathered a team, one of very skilled and loyal minions, and sent them on their way, their mission very specific: find the monsters and beasts and determine which could be persuaded to work with him. He had made it happen plenty of times before, giants, Dementors, werewolves, there was always something with human-like intelligence. Enough at least to be tempted by his offers, whether it be for food, power or vengeance. Despite the level of hostility in America, he was sure some creatures would be willing to join him and with their power and numbers on his side, with such beasts having such a great track record killing countless wizards, Dumbledore, the Ministry, the prophecy child, none of his enemies would have a prayer against him.

It was a brilliant plan. It could have worked and ruined everything the protectors of Muggles and Muggleborns fought for. Truth be told, though they would inevitably turn on him, there were a number of beasts and monsters that could have agreed to his offers. Unfortunately for him, the plan was doomed to fail at the hands of his own minions.

The Death Eaters travelled far and wide over the country, searching high and low and did run across many or their targets. They were chased by giant, rabid beasts, lured to and brawled with a Cyclops, been surrounded by giant man eaters apparently called Laistrygonian _Giants_, and learned with each encounter. They quickly learned that each and every one had some level of resistance to their spells, along with various traits and unique skills with each creature they faced. Though they made no progress in actually creating an alliance, they had learned mannerisms and drives of many of the more intellectual monsters, bringing the potential for alliances at later dates. Voldemort himself was actually pleased with what they had learned with every report given and only grew keener to have such warriors amongst his ranks, though he was quick to realize the need for a way to stop them himself before an offer was carried out. Their resistance to wizard magic alone explained much and warned him to be cautious. Underlings that difficult to defeat were more dangerous than enemies after all. Still, he had plenty of time to determine that and more information coming in by the day. That was of little concern to him.

Everything was going perfectly. Though no deals were done and almost every creature to spot them had them running away to their sanctuary, everything was still pointing to success. That emboldened the Death Eaters, made them cockier, both within and beyond matters of their mission. And of course, that led to their ultimate undoing.

They were used to being on top of the ladder. Powerful, deadly, merciless. Though their identities were hidden back home, they had all ran wild, killed countless puny Muggles and Muggle lovers alike. This nation had left them feeling weak and small to begin with, but now their egos had been re-inflated and they reveled in it. Hence began a series of massacres.

There were no other wizards who dared to pass Salem's borders. Those within only ever stepped out if they heard of a putrid Mudblood coming into being, trying to bring him or her and their family to safety and even that was rare. Most were long dead before they were discovered after all. All of this only meant one thing to the Death Eaters: aside from the monsters that they now knew about and couldn't keep up with their random, frequent apparating, there was nothing that could stand up to them. So they took great joy unleashing their bloodlust on the Muggle occupation.

It didn't take long for word to make it back to England. Normally they'd have never known, but the Death Eaters grew more and more careless with each slaughter. At first it was just quick in and out torture and kills, never staying in one area longer than ten minutes, but as their successful trips mounted without a hitch, they grew more and more confident. They stayed longer, caused larger numbers of death, more destruction. It didn't take long for Salem to determine the cause, an irregularity in itself as the wizard colony paid so little attention to the rest of America. Still, that alone didn't cause the Death Eaters' end. The spellcasters of Salem only knew that it was the work of witchcraft and wizardry, they had no idea who was doing it and rarely contacted the Ministries of the rest of the world anyway, America having long since been abandoned by them. However, the thrill and cockiness grew far too great of an extent. Pictures of the masked killers were captured by one of their victims and published in the newspapers. And then, when surrounded by the screams of their latest victims, the final mistake was made. One foolish Death Eater raised his wand to the sky and cast a spell. Within moments, the Dark Mark was hovering over Phoenix. It was only a matter of days before the British Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix became aware.

Admittedly, that alone didn't do much. The Ministry knew, but saw little point of doing anything about it. After all, they couldn't even identify and stop all the Death Eaters in their country and America was a death sentence. As far as the Ministry leaders were concerned, the idiots who went there could and would either eventually leave or be killed by the savage beasts that hide among men the place had a surplus of. Most agreed, it was the obvious play.

Dumbledore however, was not reassured in the slightest. His trusty spy had just recently managed to dig in to the plan after the mark appeared and the discoveries he made were far from pleasant. The plan and how far it was actually progressing in the field and in Voldemort's mind, was far too dangerous to ignore. So Albus took matters into his own hands and sent his own team of volunteers for the most dangerous mission of their lives.

A mission that they were sure to fail. They could search Salem, they knew they were staying there, but it was still a city and there were many ways to conceal both their hideout and their faces. The best chance they had of catching them was in the short periods of time they were attacking, but then they had an entire country to search and forces far greater than them keen to make a meal of them at every turn. It was like looking for a needle in the piranha infested Amazon River. In the end, they were hoping for a miracle.

….

Fortunately for them one did appear. Unfortunately, it was amidst a tragedy.

Not ten minutes ago, it was just another, ordinary night in the ever thriving city of Manhattan and for the most part it still was. Though late into the night, the lights made it blinding in some places while cars frequently drove by nearly every street. People were bustling wherever you looked. However, there was one place where the usual was brought to an immediate halt as the entire top floor of an apartment building exploded.

Screams filled the night as glass, metal and concrete surged to the ground, pedestrians running for their lives and cars doubling their speed in desperate attempts to avoid their own deaths. Others, further away and relatively safe, just watched on in shock and fear as the deadly debris smashed into the ground, but none spared it much notice for long for it was clear that it was only the beginning.

Within the building was pure chaos. Screams echoed throughout every hall, completely drowning out the thunderous thumps and bangs of stomping feet and slamming doors as they fled from their homes. However, none got far. Within moments of the explosion flickers of darkness appeared all over the place, appearing and disappearing around every possible exit. A few people managed to make out the forms that appeared from them, people clad in black robes and skull masks, often accompanied by cackling or malicious laughter, but an instant later they were struck with blasts of deadly, sickly green light, another explosion would occur or the ceiling would fall upon them. Either way, it was the last thing they'd ever see again.

Sadistic jeers, screams of both fear and agony, pleas for mercy and the booms and bangs of destruction pounded into everyone's ears. Fire, exploding debris, the blinding lights of deadly spells and falling and twisted bodies were burned into the memories of everyone within sight, a great deal of it all falling out shattered windows and putting the pure, blood freezing terror into the Muggles watching the horror from the so-called safety of outside. Within minutes, everyone within was dead and the building was dangerously unstable. A few more pushes and it would fall, crushing all of those that were stupid enough to gawk at the show.

"Well now, that was fun!" Dark glee dripped from the voice of the shortest Death Eater as he laughed, sauntering his way down a ruined hallway. "I never get tired of that look of shattering hope as the filth realizes that they're dead."

"Trust me, we know." Another grunted impatiently, appearing out of nowhere. "Now would you all hurry up! We've been here too long and the place surely wreaks of our magic by now. I don't particularly like the idea of running into those old, snake legged hags again!"

"Better them than those harpies. At least they don't fly." A third one shrugged, this one clearly female, as she approached alongside two more. "Still, you worry too much Angus. In moments we will be gone and free to see what comes from the safety of a far building. Personally, I'm hoping for the tailed hags. I have a feeling they would be easy to tempt with our lord's deal and they are plenty strong. And not being too horribly resistant to our magic is a benefit as well. I'm sure the Dark Lord could find the sufficient spell to keep them in line."

"All the same, we should leave." Another stated, this one much broader and gruff than the others. "We have noticed that this city is particularly well infested with monsters. It is far from wise to linger pointlessly when our location could soon be home to countless, unknown creatures."

"Yeah, yeah." The shortest sighed, lazily raising his wand into the air. With a quick incantation, he unleashed another stream of light into the air, a feral smile growing behind his mask as it grew and took form until a giant, glowing skull with a snake slithering from its mouth stared down at the city, eliciting yet another bout of pure, terrified screams from the populace, drowning out the quickly approaching sirens. He relished in the misery and chaos he left behind. "Relax Brutus, at this height, we could easily aparate away long before anything r…"

"WAAHH! WAAHH!"

"Sssshhh, sweetie, hush now."

All five Death Eaters shut up immediately at that, all of them straining their ears. Apparently they'd missed a couple filthy dogs. A baby and its mother. The short Death Eater couldn't stop the irritation from bubbling in his gut. That wouldn't do, his pride wouldn't allow it. When he went Muggle hunting, all Muggle filth in the area was to die. He couldn't have his reputation ruined by a pathetic mother and her whiny brat! How pathetic would that sound to the Dark Lord and his inner circle? He'd be a laughing stock! No, he was going to find them and slaughter them.

The others, all of them older and having much higher standing within Voldemort's forces, simply followed with amused smirks or shakes of their heads as he stomped his way across the hall, raising his wand. It was easy to tell where they were, the blasted baby was still screaming its head off.

"Bombarda!"

BOOM!

"AAHHH!"

"WWAAAAAAHHHHHH! MOMMA!"

There wasn't so much as a speck of light, the door simply blew apart, the resulting woodchips, splinters and dust blanketing the hallway. Striding purposefully through, the Death Eater headed straight for the small living room and through to a kitchen following the sounds of blubbering, panicked breaths and the squeaking of an opening window. It only took him seconds to cross the tiny place and find himself before a freaked out young woman whipping around to face him, her baby crying on the counter, trying to get back into her arms.

"Well, well, aren't you a pretty lass." He sneered cruelly, looking her up and down. "It's a shame I don't have time to play. I'd bet you'd scream good."

"What are you? Which one of them sent you?" The Death Eater and his allies were actually stunned at that. They had expected fear. They had expected begging, pleading for their lives. They had expected screams of pure fear. However, this woman was doing none of it. Yes, she was moving protectively before her child, but other than that, she was purely defiant. Her form was tense, almost ready to pounce, and her fierce eyes showed none of the disbelief Muggles usually portrayed at the realization of seeing real magic. Then there were her questions. Not who were they, but what were they. Not 'why are you here', but 'who sent you'. This was neither what you'd expect of a Muggle nor the place to find a Muggle in the know, yet the Death Eaters knew instantly. This dark haired young woman knew of magic and she had been expecting trouble.

"I don't care about their petty squabbles and paranoia! I don't care about what he represents to you or them! You will not touch my son! Whichever one of those arrogant, petty and paranoid Lords you serve, you can go tell them grow up and butt out of our lives! I don't care what you are, you won't harm a single hair on his head!"

Lords? This woman had a history. Did she somehow know about their master? Or were there other magical lords running around this savage land? The young wizard was leaning to the latter. Magical lords paranoid about this child? If this woman was indeed human like he thought, she sure showed no signs of magic, that made the brat a filthy half breed of some kind. Still, he shook his head clear of all of it. It didn't matter.

"I can assure you, you know nothing of our lord, wench." Angus snarled, coming back to reality himself and glaring at the piece of dirt that dared talk to them so defiantly as he raised his wand. "Whatever you have mixed yourself with is of no interest to us, nor will it save you, filth! Be grateful that our time is short, or I would torture you to insanity for your lack of respect to our kind. Avada Kadavra!" The sickly green blast struck home before anyone could react, right into the poor woman's chest. Blown off her feet, she crashed into the counter before collapsing brokenly to the floor, her wide, yet still defiant gaze staring unseeingly at the ceiling.

"MOMMY!" The Death Eaters actually flinched at the toddler's screech as he crawled fast and dropped to the floor with a thump. If he felt any pain from it, he didn't even pay it the slightest bit of attention as he stumbled to his mother, shaking her shoulder. "Momma! Mommy, wake up! MOMMY!"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, this kid has to shut up!" The woman snapped, raising her wand as she stepped forward drawing the young boy's attention. "Don't worry little brat, you'll join her in a second."

However, she never managed to utter so much as a single syllable of her curse. For right as she targeted the boy, another piercing scream struck their ears and with it, the sink tap exploded.

"Wha-AAHHH!"

"CRAP!"

"Damn it!"

It was a sight none of the Death Eaters had ever seen before. With but a simple scream, the boy had summoned a simply huge amount of water to his aid. At first it was purely protective, spiraling around him and his dead mother, but that barely lasted a moment before it surged at them, blowing all five of them right off their feet and flinging them hard and fast across the room, crashing brutally into the furniture or far walls before falling brokenly to the ground.

"Unbelievable." The young Death Eater couldn't believe his eyes. Stunned and aching all over, he found it hard to focus on the world as he looked around, but he could still make out the damage. Angus and his female partner were both unconscious and Brutus' leg was twisted the wrong way, no one looked capable of rising again easily. The entire room was soaked, but much to his horror, it wasn't staying that way, for the water was once again being pulled into the air and back, circling the still crying, very dry baby. He couldn't comprehend what happened, what he was seeing. It wasn't possible, no baby was this powerful! How quickly so much water was drawn to him, was still being drawn from both the room and the sink, the amount of force behind the assault, it was far beyond anything an infant had ever done before. Even the most powerful of toddlers generally only had enough power to make themselves levitate of pull their toys to them. This child had already shown the power level of a pubescent wizard and to top it off, instead of passing out, as would be expected, he was pulling it back, ready to go again! It was beyond believable, beyond possible! This kid had power, too much power. If allowed to live, he could very well become stronger than the Dark Lord himself.

Unfortunately for him and his buddies, there was no time to ponder the implications or how to respond to that realization, for at that moment, another group of people charged through the apartment doorway and these guys were definitely wizards. Not his allies either, for instantly all their wands were pointed their way.

"Stupefy!"

The young Death Eater didn't even think, he just apparated. He was there just long enough to see the multiple streams of red lights soaring their way, to see his allies struck before he disappeared.

However, even though he managed to escape, nothing but dread and despair could be found in his mind. For he was likely to face punishment worse than death. All of his allies were captured and without them, he could not hope to survive in America. As good as they'd gotten with moving around the country, there were still countless close calls that were only survived through group effort. And what made it even worse was that they were ultimately stopped by a baby and British wizards. Even with only a single word uttered, he'd recognize his home's accent anywhere. Their own arrogance had drawn too much attention to them. The dark Lord would have his head.

Maybe it would be better to simply let the monsters get him.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Thanks everyone for the reviews, favourites and follows. I was very happily surprised by how fast people took to this story, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

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**The Infant Enigma Part2**

It was one heck of a sight they'd walked in on, Remus had to give it that. They had expected to be too late once again. They expected every life to have been taken and the Death Eaters long gone. They expected to only be able to stick around for a second before the creatures who'd no doubt caught whiff of all the magic used here, the scent of wizards strong in their nostrils, charged in and forced them to flee for their lives before they could get any clues. Instead, they were gobsmacked, blatantly staring at the mess before them. Four of the five Death Eaters were successfully captured, lying unconscious at their feet. One had got away, but he wouldn't linger. No single wizard could survive long in America, the danger was simply far too great. The only possible exceptions for even a short while were Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort themselves. No, this wizard would either hide away in Salem or run home with his tail between his legs, so their mission was actually a success. But not by their hands. No, from what they could see, the potential threat had been stopped by a mere, crying infant. One that seemed to be creating his own spiraling shield of water.

It was a miracle that the members of the Order of the Phoenix had managed to arrive soon enough to apprehend the Death Eaters at all. This mission had always looked absolutely hopeless until the last five minutes. Even when Dumbledore had asked for volunteers, Remus knew their chances of surviving long enough to find them were slim to none, let alone actually stopping them. Like the Death Eaters, they too had set up a home base in Salem and even gotten the local magical law enforcement to assist in searching the city for their enemy. It was the most likely chance they had of actually finding them and even those chances were slim. Brutus and Angus were senior members of the Death Eaters and very talented in all stealth methods, according to Snape, and Salem was riddled with countless protection spells to keep the community safe from the beasts and monsters that hunted them, many of which were long forgotten spells, and therefore they were expected to be found everywhere and it was almost impossible to differentiate one protective enchantment from another. So their only hope was to catch them in the act of murder, as horrible as that sounded. Another almost impossible option as they were far too quick to come and go. By the time the Order learned of a new attack, the Death Eaters were already long gone.

It was only recently that Frank Longbottom managed to find a way to speed up the process. Brilliant in ways to deal with communication and crime, and having plenty of knowledge in Muggle communication methods, he managed to tweak a radio to listen in on police radios and spent most of his time filtering through, looking anything that sounded like dark wizard activity. Sad to say that this sent them on a lot of false alarms, there was a surprising amount of murder in this country, but tonight it had struck gold. Frank was actually about to give up for the night when a report about a bombing and lightshow in the sky currently in progress came in and the team had jumped to it immediately. Even so, they doubted their target was still there, but it was definitely worth a shot. They'd never once caught wind of a magical attack in progress before and the Dark Mark both proved that it was their targets and that they were reveling in their kills. There was a slim chance that they could confront them.

And yet, after all that they were barely involved. A toddler had done what they could not.

"Everyone stay back!" Alaster Moody ordered gruffly, keeping his wand raised as sharp eyes stared around the room before landing critically on the child. "Keep your guard up."

"Alaster, don't be silly." Hestia, the soul woman and final teammate chided, slowly stepping past him. "We need to bind the Death Eaters and we need to check on the mother and child. The mother's not moving and-"

"And the child is the only one beside us still conscious, which means he's the one turning this place into a water park!" Moody retorted, grabbing her by the arm and forcing her to stop. "He took down five Death Eaters on his own. That's not normal even by our standards. And neither is that level of control without a wand, even from a senior wizard. That boy is clearly dangerous!"

"He is clearly distraught!" Hestia snapped back, ripping her arm free. "He's just a baby Alaster! He's not out to kill, he's scared and his powers are protecting him. We need to calm him and get away from here before the Muggle rescue teams reach here, the monsters show up or that Death Eater brings back friends. Once Voldemort hears of a baby with this much power you know he'll take serious interest. He'll either kill the poor boy or raise him to be his ultimate minion! We can't let either happen."

Frank and Remus just left them to their argument, Frank quickly moving to bind and gather the Death Eaters while Remus simply stared at the crying boy. The boy was maybe a year older than James and Lily's son and looked a fair bit like him. Dark, messy hair, green eyes, though more of the darker, bluish green of the sea than young Harry's emerald orbs. And he looked just as innocent.

"Mom…my. Wake up! Peas?" Tears fell freely down his face as he rubbed his cheek into his mother's, desperate and shaking, though he was quickly growing more lethargic. His whimpers and pleas quickly regained the attention of Moody and Hestia a mere moment before whatever reserves he had worn out and the water fell with a splash, drenching the floor all around them. Exhausted, the poor boy sobbed a few more times as he rested his head down on his mother's chest. His head turned fearfully the soft taps of Hestia's approach, but even as he stared up at her gentle smile, his heavy lids closed and all the tension left his tiny body. He was out like a light.

"The woman is dead." Hestia sighed before she'd even knelt down, giving the pair of them look of pure sadness and sympathy. Raising her hand, she gently closed the woman's eyes before wrapping her arms around the child and carefully lifting him close to her chest before turning back to Moody, her expression changing to one of pure defiance. "We can't leave the child here! He's magical, one of us. How he's survived so long in this place is anyone's guess, but you know full well that that won't last any longer. Whatever we do with him after this, we need to take him with us now."

"We also need to get moving." Frank added from the window, nodding his head toward it. "Police, paramedics, firefighters, they're all entering the building and this thing doesn't look too stable. If we stay much longer, the situation won't need bloodthirsty monsters to put us in peril."

"…Fine." Moody almost spat the word out as he stared at the kid. He still wasn't thrilled about Hestia's decision. Remus on the other hand was all for it. The child was the picture of innocence, even with a waterfall swirling around him. And he was powerful, strangely so. For a moment Remus wondered if this was the boy of the prophecy Albus had warned them of, though he quickly dismissed it. He was a little too old and his parents had definitely not defied Voldemort before. Either way, keeping the boy safe from the monsters of his home and the monster of theirs was definitely a high priority. "We'll worry about where to dump him later. Let's go."

"In a moment." Hestia almost smirked at the growing vein on Moody's forehead as she walked right through the apartment, quickly picking up a few pictures on her way to what had to be the bedrooms. "I am going to collect some of the boy's things. See if you can find identification. I'm sure the boy would want to keep his name and that of his mother. After all," She added, she smile turning sad as she stared down at the sleeping boy, gently running her hand through his hair. "what we grab now will be all he will ever have of her."

Entering what had to be the boy's room as all three men behind her grew somber, Hestia immediately set the boy down on the bed and wrapped him up in a blanket, making sure he was comfortable before turning her attention to the room. Quickly finding a duffel bag near the closet, she immediately grabbed it and put every picture she'd grabbed before and every one in this room into it before moving on to clothes and toys, packing everything she could into it until it was full. Levitating it with a simple flick of her wand, she went back to the bed to pick up the sleeping boy once more, only to stop for a second as the headpiece of the bed caught the light of her wand. It bore a colourful depiction of waves at the beach, a very pretty display, but what really caught her attention was what had been painted above it.

"My dear Sea Prince, Perseus Jackson. So that's your name, huh little one?" It was only getting harder and harder to keep her voice controlled and soft. The more she saw of this place, particularly this room, the more she saw just how cherished this boy had been. Everywhere you looked there were signs of it. An open book next to a chair pulled close to the bed for bedtime stories. All the photos of the two she'd packed up of the mother staring adoringly at her bright eyed and joyful little Perseus. The personal touches all around the room, even what looked like homemade plush toys. Every touch of the place screamed doting and affection. This poor boy had just lost possibly the most loving mother on the planet.

Sighing deeply, she forced back her tears and headed back out to the others. The three of them were waiting impatiently in the dining area, a stack of damp papers and a few photo albums clutched in their hands. And rightly so, for the noises of approaching people were getting louder. They had to leave now, before they were found.

Giving them a nod, Hestia wasted only one moment more to return to the fallen mother, finally letting a tear fall for the broken family.

"I am so sorry we didn't reach you in time." She said softly, gently clasping her cold hand and bringing it to her son one final time. "I'm sorry we couldn't save you. I'm so sorry that we couldn't keep you here with your son. But I promise, your dear Perseus will be safe. I promise no harm will come to him. Goodbye my dear."

"Sally Jackson." Remus said sadly, placing a hand on Hestia's shoulder. "Her name is Sally Jackson."

Taking a deep breath, trying to calm her emotions down, Hestia stayed as she was for a few seconds more before letting Sally's hand down gently and moving away, grabbing the levitating bag as she did so. Their time was up. Turning to the others, she waited only for Moody to nod before all four of them apparated away, taking their captives and the orphaned boy with them.

….

"AAARRRRGGGHHHHHH!"

The young Death Eater was writhing and screaming in agony at his feet, but Voldemort barely even heard him. He was barely focusing enough to keep the Cruciatus Curse in affect. No, his mind was running a mile a minute over what he had learned.

To say that he was livid was an understatement. Countless hours of planning, carefully picking out who he had thought were the best members of his followers for the job, all the progress made, all of it was tossed into the trash simply by acts of stupidity, arrogance and a total lack of self control.

The occasional murder trip was one thing, but every other day? Unleashing the Dark Mark on what was supposed to be a subtle mission? Did his followers have any brains at all? Two of them were inner circle members, they should have known better. What they had done had drawn attention from the Wizarding World the world over! Of course Dumbledore would send a response! And then if that wasn't bad enough, they had scarred the reputation of his entire army by _losing to a baby_!

Not only that, but they had lost their hideout as well. The Order members had quickly gotten the Muggle loving fools in Salem on their side, naturally figuring out that his men had to be hiding within their city most of the time and in his haste to save his own hide, the sole returner had exposed his safe house to them. That was only reason he had even dared to return, he had no prayer of salvaging anything now. The witches and wizards of Salem would no doubt be on high alert from now on, anyone suspicious would be looked into immediately. For now, Salem was lost to him.

Still, it wasn't a total loss. Before the torture curse was cast, Voldemort had ruthlessly invaded his minion's head and looked through every memory. There were countless creatures he wasn't even aware existed before and now he had an idea of their drives and temperaments. Though it would be impossible at the moment, with further research into past legends and a bit of time, he was sure that he could return to that plan at a later date. Though he wanted it now, it could be salvageable in the future.

Then there was the baby and his mother. The wench was clearly nothing more than Muggle filth, but the boy was something else entirely. Unlike all the creatures his followers had found, both dangerous and pathetic, this boy was human. He would have gawked at the assumption that he'd just discovered an overly powerful Mudblood, but his mother's words stated otherwise. The boy's father was clearly magical and no doubt part of a powerful family if lords saw such a child as a threat to the balance of power. Even the boy supposedly bearing the power to defeat him was the descendant of the Ancient Houses of Black and Potter. And all this suggested something else. Magical humans meant wizards and Salem had no lords, nor anyone of greater than average power. And this child had survived for what was assumed to be around two years by his failure of a Death Eater. That meant that there was a way to live alongside the savage monsters and that declared that yes, there was ways to control them, at least to some extent. Yes, it no doubt required a very powerful wizard and great talent at magic, but Lord Voldemort was the epitome of greatness and power. He simply had to track down the father and these lords, or anyone they associated with and learn how they did it. And fortunately for him, the best possible lead had presented itself in the form of a strangely powerful infant.

"AARRGGHHH! L-LORD-AAARRGGHHH! I-I BEG-AAARRGGGGHHH!"

Huh. He'd almost forgotten that pathetic failure was still writhing down there. Staring down maliciously, absentmindedly petting his snake all the while, he took pleasure in the agony he was inflicting for a few more moments before finally ending the spell, leaving the failure raggedly gasping and twitching on the stone floor without another thought.

"Lucius! Severus!" Turning to the observers of his rage, a few snickering at the fool's punishment while the others tried to make themselves as quiet and unnoticeable as possible, he zeroed in on two of his most loyal and competent followers as they stepped confidently and proudly forward. "The Order has just found a newly orphaned baby boy with unexpectedly strong magic. Find him. I want him and everything you can gather on his identity and bloodline. Any spells that might be protecting him from the beasts' detection. Anything unusual about his magic or body. Find and gather it all, anything reported and observed. Feel free to use any means or any number of your fellow Death Eaters or allies that you feel you need, but get the boy and the information to me."

"As you wish, my Lord." Lucius Malfoy bowed, a confident smirk growing on his face.

"It shall be done." Snape nodded, as stoic as ever. Giving his master a small, but respectful bow of his own, he quickly followed behind the much more dramatic Lucius.

Watching them go, an actually victorious smirk grew across the Dark Lord's face. Lucius and Severus were his greatest spies and together, they had slipped themselves amongst almost every single band of enemies he had. If the information was discovered and documented or discussed, they would obtain it. It was only a matter of time. And the child himself could prove useful. If nothing else, he was a bargaining chip for the brat's father, but if his power was as great and unique as his minion's memory portrayed, if he were to be raised the right way as his powers grew stronger, he could be an amazing weapon all on his own. He was absolutely certain of it, this boy was a goldmine of possibilities. With him, his plans may yet occur on time.

That however, did not mean that he was about to let his failure of a follower off the hook so easily. No, such reckless stupidity, despite what it had revealed, would never be tolerated.

….

"In all honesty Albus, I don't care what you, Hestia, or anyone else says. I don't care that he's just a baby, something is off about this kid. I don't trust it." Moody grunted, pointing his legendary scowl seemingly everywhere at once. Not that that came as any surprise. Alaster Moody taught the principle of constant vigilance and had long turned it into a way of life. In all honesty, under normal circumstances, his friends and workmates would have long started worrying for his mental health, it had gotten so bad, but with over a decade of civil war and him standing on the frontlines from the beginning, it was more than understandable, maybe even advisable, that he had dived so deeply into that mindset. It was probably the only thing keeping him alive these days. He had far too many enemies targeting him specifically and never backed away from helping others directly.

And his hunches were still usually right on the money.

Leaning back in his chair, Albus popped one of his favored sherbet lemons into his mouth and let his gaze wonder over possibly the strangest office on the planet. If the moving, whispering portraits of men and women bearing clothes, mannerisms and all-round cultures spreading over a thousand years conversing with each other wasn't odd enough for you, the strange contraptions, statues and fancy tea sets would convince you with no problem. It was absolutely bizarre, the clashing of ancient and futuristic items, Celtic designs next to Egyptian, all them humming with magic, looking both cluttered and yet organized. It had left many a student and parent scratching their head. Much like this situation had left many of Dumbledore's friends.

On one hand, it was great relief. According to the numbers and details Severus had given them, the removal of the Death Eaters had been a complete success and hadn't cost those he cared for a single life, despite the death sentence that was the very act of going to America. Salem was more than happy to work with them too, as far as ensuring foreign intruders would have a far harder time infiltrating their city. In actuality, in any other country, that international incident the Death Eaters had committed could have had horrible implications for everyone. The spells protecting Salem kept them safe, but that was mostly due to anti-detection and distraction wards, not truly defensive magic. They survived by keeping to the city and not drawing the monsters' attention to their existence. The Death Eaters drew attention back to their existence with every action beyond Salem's borders and put them at great risk of being discovered, especially if some of the more dangerous beings out there tracked their movements back to their city. Every American witch and wizard was now furious and living on high alert. They could be forced to flee for their lives at any time and it was all the Death Eaters' fault. It was only the small size of the colony that stopped them from retaliating, something Albus was sure that Voldemort had counted on when he first set this plan into motion. Salem simply didn't have the political or raw power to forcefully take on the British Wizarding World. They couldn't do a thing outside their city.

However, the child was definitely a confusing call for concern. The Salem Wizarding society had point blank refused to keep him once they heard what happened. Though there was no concrete sign of a threat, they were extremely overly cautious of cases like the boy, especially now with the country's monsters on the hunt for wizard blood. He didn't seem like any creature they had seen before, but their history had noted beings who looked exactly like humans suddenly turning into something else and others that never changed shape, but were still dangerously powerful and fierce as all hell. In their current situation, they had absolutely no intention of risking something else drawing trouble to them, even if he was merely an unusually strong baby. The fact that a child like that lasted so long in Manhattan only set their paranoia off even more and they had demanded that the child leave immediately.

Not that Albus couldn't see their point. Even when things were fine, a child with that much out of control power in that environment was a danger to himself and everyone around him. It truly was a miracle that he hadn't been found and devoured yet, from the reports he'd gotten. And suspicious. Moody had quite the eye for accurate detail and from what he'd said, the boy's power and control over the water was unprecedented for his age. The report Snape had given him only moments before Moody arrived only stated that fact ever moreso. Living in a dangerous world like the Forbidden Lands, Albus was sure anyone would have the right to grow paranoid.

Then there was the other problem. Voldemort's theories and demand for the child. Voldemort had got a full, perfectly accurate account from the returning Death Eater on the boy's magical lash out. The possibilities of Voldemort's beliefs shown in his orders to Severus were very troubling indeed if he was correct, not to mention what the deranged psychopath would do to the child if he managed to get his hands on him. No, the fickle defenses of Salem would never protect him. It was for the best that Hestia and the others had taken him back to the Order's base with them.

As for Alaster's concerns, he would have to see the boy and his power for himself. Unfortunately, the Forbidden Lands held far too many mysteries for him to have any light to shed on the matter without firsthand experience with this Perseus.

"We will determine what to make of the boy at the meeting tonight." He stated, looking over both men, pointedly ignoring the deep looks of distrust and wariness they gave each other. "I will have Madam Pomfrey go to the Order and check him over medically in a moment, see if we can rule out any of the irregularities that have the American wizards so worried, but for now, I am content with letting him rest and Hestia fussing over him. Goodness knows that a newly orphaned, exhausted child needs both plenty of sleep and affection, not a cold interrogation he cannot even understand. Once we know just how far this child falls into the category of unusual, then we shall make more permanent arrangements for him.

"Now, Severus." He went on, turning to the younger, blacked haired man piercingly. "We will of course supply you with sufficient information to make it appear that you are making progress. Meanwhile, I will need you to try and determine just what theories and plans Voldemort has in mind for the boy. He is in need of far too much information for it to simply be about killing a boy over damaging his force's reputation or blood status. He is thinking along similar lines as Alaster and I will need to know exactly what he intends to do with the thought. Are you up for it?"

"Yes sir." Snape barely even moved his lips as he stared right back at those sharp eyes. The tension in the room was intense until Albus turned back to his old friend.

"Alaster, as I'm certain you will refuse to rest, perhaps you could acquire the information interrogated out of the Ministry's newest convicts. We need to make sure we have all the facts, both those surrounding the boy and just how much progress they made into Tom's crazy plan."

"Already demanded to do the interrogating myself." Moody responded gruffly, a small, dark smirk crossing his face. He nodded to Albus once more and headed for the fireplace, his hand quickly gathering some dust from the pot above it and tossing it into the flames. "Ministry of Magic!" With a flash of green fire, he was gone within seconds, the room descending into absolute silence.

"…Albus." That is until Snape hesitantly broke it, his hard stare directed anywhere, so long as it wasn't at the Headmaster. Turning to his former enemy, Albus was confident that he knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth, but he was content to wait for the man to ask. "This child…it would seem that he will be exceptionally powerful when he grows older. Possibly, even stronger than you and we do not yet know his full heritage or age. Is it possible that he is the child of the prophecy, rather than Lily's son?"

"It is possible, but highly unlikely." Albus answered with a shake of his head. "It is true that we do not yet know his birth date or his father, but I doubt someone who thrice defied Tom would hide a child in a Forbidden Land of all places. Perhaps if he was found in Salem, but not New York. It would be a death sentence worse than keeping him here. If one sent their child and wife away, it would have been to somewhere safe. No, I believe this boy was born and raised by people who have no connection to us, let alone the prophecy."

"And yet this boy troubles you." It wasn't a question. It was delivered very bluntly.

"We shall see soon enough if our concerns are justified." Albus responded firmly, silently declaring this conversation to be over. Snape only lingered a moment longer before he too took off through the fireplace, leaving Albus alone to his thoughts and the loud sigh escaping his lips. It was true of course. The last time he had found a child so unusually strong and advanced in magic, he had been a bully who turned into Voldemort. This child wasn't even fully toilet trained yet and he still singlehandedly took down five full grown Death Eaters! Powerful and extremely impressionable. A perfect target for someone like Voldemort to mold and corrupt. He may even be simply be corrupted by his own power. It had happened many times before to much more matured minds.

Whatever the Order decided, he would have to keep an eye on this boy.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Infant Enigma Part 3**

"I WANT MOMMA! WHERE'S MY MOMMY?" Albus didn't have to wait long at all to get a look at the boy's power. Water hit his ankles the moment he opened the Order's hideout's door. And, if he wasn't mistaken, the ground was shaking a little.

"I see our little guest is awake." He commented with a small smile as a hectic Hestia turned to him, a screaming baby struggling against her in her arms.

"Yes, and he's been in having a fit ever since he opened his eyes." Hestia groaned, trying what had become a halfhearted attempt at calming him. He must have been upset for a while, because Hestia was clearly at her wit's end. She looked extremely stressed, worn out and soaked to the bone. "He made the plumbing explode again about five minutes ago. He did the same thing an hour ago in the bathtub." She added, noticing his stare. "The entire place is quickly becoming a swimming pool. Frank, Alice, Remus and Peter are trying to fix it, but when Perseus here screams particularly loud, it's like the water has a violent mind of its own."

"MOMMY!" Another wave quickly followed that shrill scream, causing a series of startled screams around the room as Mudungus and Kingsley stumbled through a doorway, but it barely reached Dumbledore's knees, probably a sign of the boy's waning strength. Still, for all the destruction of their headquarters and despite how worn out Hestia was, both she and Albus could only look at the poor boy in sympathy. This had to be terrifying for him, being in a completely new place, surrounded by strange people with his mother nowhere in sight. And all of this after a scary, life threatening encounter when he'd seen his mother go down. The kid had every right in the world to wail his little heart out. It was truly heartbreaking. The loving mother he kept calling for would never see him again.

"How about I take him off your hands?" Looking up over Hestia's shoulder, Albus had just enough time to see a flicker of red before Lily Potter gently took the screaming baby into her arms, cooing at him softly as she bounced him, rubbing circles into his back. "Come on sweetie, it's ok. How about you come upstairs with me and meet Harry and Neville? Does that sound good, toys and playmates?"

"Hello Lily." Albus smiled, raising a curious and slightly chiding eyebrow. "Always a pleasure to see you, but what are you and your family doing here? I thought we actually managed to convince you to go into hiding."

"You did and we are, but we do still intend to be in the loop for something as big as a trip to the Forbidden Lands and objectives involved in such a crazy stunt." Lily replied, giving the old man a rather scolding look of her own. "Somehow, we missed the memo. Can't imagine how that happened."

"We are trying to keep you safe and your husband from jumping in again. You and your son have been targeted after all." Albus reminded her with a knowing look, though it was clear that Lily was having none of it, regardless of how a good a point that was.

"Yes, but I am also well aware that attempts at concealment with the Fidelius Charm in the Forbidden Lands proved completely useless. If anything, it drew rabid, doglike beasts right to the casters." Lily retorted as she adjusted the tiring boy in her arms. "That would make our protection useless if he had succeeded and it would be good to be prepared for such a possibility ahead of time. Now, James will attend the meeting and I'm going to watch the kids. Maybe even make Perseus here happy for five minutes and not prepare the building for oversized goldfish. I'll see you later, Professor." And with that, she was off upstairs and out of sight, cooing and reassuring Perseus the whole way.

"At least there's no plumbing up there." Hestia sighed, wading her way to the main table and collapsing into her seat. "Personally, I prefer swimming in a pool over being hit by a water cannon."

"All manifestations of his power have been aquatic in nature?" Albus asked, frowning hard as Hestia gave him a tired nod. Now that was strange. Wild magic, particularly that from infants, was usually absolutely random. Summoning toys or food was only reoccurring type of accidental magic ever seen. Yet this boy, already unique by power level, had a tendency for only manipulating water. He was starting to agree a little more with Alaster. This child was not by any means your average young wizard. There was something very different about him.

….

It didn't take too long to gather everyone at main table. Alice Longbottom went upstairs for few moments while everyone else dealt with the water problem and was happy to announce that Lily had successfully calmed Perseus down and coaxed him into playing ball with the other babies. Happy that Neville and Harry were safe and the building wasn't under threat of becoming wetter than an aquarium again, the adults quickly settled into their seats and got down to business.

"The Dark Lord currently has no intention of sending another team to the Forbidden Lands." Snape stated to the scowling crowd around him, pointedly looking only to Dumbledore as he made his report. Few of this crowd trusted him at all and none of them liked him, not that he really cared. Still, it was easier to just state his findings and be done with it than interact with the rest of them. "He understands full well that no team would survive long enough to make it worth it with Salem now on high alert for his people. While I have yet to learn his theories, I can confirm that he believes the child to be fathered by someone very powerful and useful to his plans and is keen for whatever information I can gleam from Poppy's diagnostics and any protective spell you might have found on his being. If nothing useful has been found, then he will use the child in the hope of luring out the father and exchange the brat for information."

"So he has no actual interest in the boy himself?" Remus asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"Of course he does! However, if his theories are correct, then he could trade one powerful child that won't be on any real use to him for years for information and spells that could get him an army of unstoppable, magic resistant monsters now!" Snape scoffed with an eye roll and enough foul attitude that James had to physically pull Sirius back down into his seat before he could slug the spy.

"Since we are on the subject of the boy already anyway, how about we get that topic completely out of the way before he hit the usual stuff?" Frank suggested quickly, keen to avoid a brawl and drawing everyone's attention to him as he picked up a piece of parchment. "We managed to find some of his records in the documents we picked up, but they don't answer too much. We got confirmation of his name and that mother was Sally Jackson, an only child of deceased parents. He is freshly two years old as of last month. But that's all we could get." He finished with a sigh.

"No name of the father?" Kingsley asked, frowning confusedly.

"No, there's no mention in anything we got. Even Perseus' birth certificate has no idea." Frank shook his head. "I suppose that even Sally wasn't aware of who the father was. There are many ways and reasons that could happen, especially with magic involved."

"Well that's a shame. I was hoping we could track this man down and get some answers from him." Madam Pomfrey exclaimed loudly, startling everyone as she riffled through her own notes.

"What do you mean Poppy? Did you find something unusual with the boy?" Albus asked, his eyes sharpening at that outburst and his full attention now on her.

"I found something never seen before and completely baffling!" Poppy replied exasperatedly, shoving everything she had at the old man. "The boy is perfectly healthy and there are no spells whatsoever on his being. I checked thoroughly for any signs of concealment magic and found nothing but his own power when he slugged me with a ball of water. But that's were normality ends! I cast few spells to check his internal system and DNA in an attempt of my own to determine a father and confirm he is a wizard, but what I found was only one set of DNA, coming purely from one parent, which I was able to determine that the source was his mother! It's unprecedented! The father's genes are a complete blank, yet from what my spells had shown me, a number of the mother's genes are still being dominated by something anyway. Like his eyes. He has the gene for brown eyes from his mother, but his are green!

"Then there's his magic!" She went on, either not noticing or not caring that she'd already lost half of them to stunned looks. "I cast a few spells to check the flow and its affect on his body. Normally, a boy that young wouldn't be ready for so much power, over storing it or overusing it could damage him. But not only is his body completely fine with the power, the power flows far more erratically through the body than I've ever seen. It's like a whirlpool in his body! And mind you, all of these spells took so many reattempts and so much power on the final castings that I was ready to put my head on a pillow by the time I was done. He's resistant to magic. Whatever this blank space in genetics truly is, I don't believe that it's human. This child looks and acts completely normal, but is some kind of human hybrid."

Well, naturally, that declaration left the room falling into utter silence as the implications hit everyone hard. One look around the room immediately showed a number of mixed feelings to this discovery. A few, like Moody and Snape, were glaring blindly and tensing, like cornered wolves readying to strike back. Others' eyes immediately looked up to vaguely where the child in question was playing with two children of their own, James taking sharp breaths and trying to calm down, along with Frank and Sirius, while Alice was fighting the urge to run upstairs and check her dear child was safe. Others were just stunned and confused, trying to comprehend what they'd just been told, but having yet for it to fully register to them.

Then there was Albus. His eyes were moving a mile a minute over Poppy's report, double checking all her notations and details for anything she might not have mentioned or the slightest mistake. Though the latter was pointless, as usual she had done a perfect job. A small frown crossed his face as he looked over the information again, ignoring the others completely as their shock finally made it out of their mouths, pelting Poppy for details. This both explained and changed many things. Though, that wasn't to say that Dumbledore hadn't expected something of this nature, albeit something far less confusing genetically speaking. The child was simply too powerful for a normal wizard, that was well and truly established. Then there's his water affinity, clearly a hint to what his father was, though Albus could not think of any humanoid creature in existence with the power to manipulate water like this, so it was far from helpful in determining what the boy was. This also explained how the child had survived so long in a Forbidden Land. Though he had powerful magic, he wasn't a wizard.

But this of course made things much more difficult for the Order and the child. After all, up until now, they had all been acting as if they had simply rescued an unusual Muggleborn wizard. They had been working with the assumption that the boy was completely human. Now however, they were faced with the fact that they had brought home a child that may actually be of one of the many breeds hiding amongst humanity and slaughtering their kind. The fact that it was confirmed that his mother was human and the boy had done nothing deliberately dangerous or aggressive to them paved the way for the possibility that he wasn't a threat, but that didn't rule out the possibility or the reactions of others once they found out. The Ministry would go into an uproar, demanding they send the child back or worse, while Voldemort would no doubt change his plans again. A beast/human hybrid would only reassure him that his desires for the Forbidden Lands were very possible and give him a new, possibly much easier route to follow in finding allies. After all, human hybrids meant that there were specific creatures quite happy to cooperate with humans and the resulting offspring could both think, act and hide perfectly within the Wizarding World. Both generations were very dangerous things to consider.

"Voldemort must not be made aware of this turn of events." His voice cutting through the panicked quarrelling, all eyes turned back to Dumbledore as he sent a firm look to every single one of them, silently demanding that they settle down. "As far as we can tell, Voldemort is operating under the assumption that Perseus is simply the child of a powerful wizard and we must allow that belief to be maintained for as long as possible or risk a whole knew, far more likely disaster. So, this information shall not leave this room."

"And understandably so, but what are we going to do with this information?" James asked, setting an intense look of his own right back at the old man. "A child like that…is there a place that could actually be a safehouse for him? Do we need to worry about what he might do to us? He's young and innocent now, but if we keep him with us indefinitely, will he turn on us? Will some urge to kill us surface as he grows? There are plenty of rumors from the Forbidden Lands depicting people who look perfectly normal one second and lash out with claws and needle-like teeth the next."

"Don't be silly James! He's simply a child and he does have a human mind." Hestia replied, rolling her eyes. "Even if his other kind can be deadly to us, the right nurturing will deal with that. Though, I do agree with the comment of the safehouse dilemma. The beasts and beings of the Forbidden Lands seem to disrupt, disregard or genuinely get drawn to most protective wards and break them. Few work well at all and many of those can still be neutralized by a specific beast or being. Without even knowing what he is, we can't prepare for that and he may unintentionally take down the very spells that are meant to protect him."

That was true, though he had yet to mess with the wards of their headquarters, as far as Albus knew, without knowing his breed they had no way of even guessing what could work or fail. Which was quite an issue considering that their newest discoveries only enhanced the need to keep the boy from Voldemort. At the moment, the boy was the only one who could lead the wizard to others like him. Even if he got all the information, this one child they'd lucked out on finding was the only link any of them had to potential allies or enemies. Another would not be easy to find without one of their own potentially drawing them out.

Thinking it over for a minute, Albus came to a decision. "I will take the child to Hogwarts."

"What?"

"Albus, you do realize how people will respond to that!"

"Is that really safe? I mean, with his powers and all those children so close!"

"We have yet to truly deem the child safe!"

"How would we explain that to the Ministry? Or the panicked parents of all the students! We won't be able to hide much about him if we do that and they'll all freak out!"

"I am aware of all of it." Cutting loudly right through the nearly incomprehensible cries coming from all directions, Albus stared all of them down into silence at once, his face and voice completely unyielding. "However, I fail to see any other option. Most locations even within the oldest parts of our society do not have the spell work necessary to ensure his safety. However, Hogwarts is another matter entirely.

"The castle walls still bear the ancient, long forgotten spells and protections that were placed upon them in the days of the Four Founders and have only been added to since. Remember, there was once a time when the creatures that run wild in the Forbidden Lands existed in high numbers here too, yet our kind survived just fine and Hogwarts was never touched. He will not bring any risk to the wards. On top of that, Hogwarts is still the safest place in the United Kingdom, even from our own kind. Even Voldemort still refuses to try and take the castle. He will be safe there.

"As for the students, we will simply need to keep a close eye on the boy and be careful not to place him too close to large sources of water until we can get a full understanding of his magic. There is still time for him to settle in Hogwarts and for us to determine whether or not he does have any natural aggression toward our kind before the term begins. Rest assured, if I do not believe that they will be safe in his presence, I will make other arrangements. As for the Ministry and the parents, that does not need to be a problem. We will simply claim to see him as Voldemort does, an unusually powerful wizard and point out that he is after the boy. With his power so strong, it would make sense to remove him from any area where there are Muggles as well. A few other comments on my sentimental heart will suffice for a while. We will worry about what comes next after we have better determined the boy's nature and abilities."

"I…suppose that it is the best option." Moody grunted grumpily, taking a swig of his flask. "We've got a few weeks before the kids go back to see how he goes and once in Hogwarts, the kid's locked in. Limits potential damage and the castle's built to last. Still, you better be right Albus, and you better prove it long before the truth gets out. No one will be too happy that you let a potential monster live within their children's school, baby or not."

"Do not worry, I will be keeping a very close eye on this." Albus agreed, looking around at everyone else. Seeing most of them nodding their heads in acceptance and the rest conceding, one way or another, to the decision, he declared the matter closed and turned back to Moody. After all, there was still other matters to attend to, including another from America. "Now, did you manage to get any information from the captives?"

"Mostly confirmations of our assumptions and what Severus already told us." Moody grunted, scowling at the ceiling. "Their methods moving in and out of Salem, a number creatures and monsters they came across, which ones were simply savage, conversable or possible future allies. Apparently there were a few kinds that frequently ran away, though the only ones recognizable to me sounded like satyrs and drunk centaurs who told them to get lost. They were getting close though and the amount of detail they had on a number of species was disturbingly large. They had found some old hags with two reptilian tails for legs that love wizard flesh for example. They were confident that they could have convinced them to come here to feed on the Muggleborns. Others too. Some of their descriptions had me preferring the idea of taking on Greyback under the full moon over them to be honest. Others sounded ridiculous, but what do I know about freaky creatures from the Forbidden Lands? Still though, this kid is the only one that looked completely human, even when he attacked. All others hiding in human skin always revealed their true forms before they attacked, or a part of them, such as claws or horns. That's something to note."

"Well then, it's a good thing that matter was brought to an end." Sirius Black shrugged, though he looked more than a little uncomfortable at the suggestion of just how far they'd gotten. No one had survived in any place officially branded the Forbidden Lands for that long in centuries, forget about actually managing to befriend any monsters within. "Now, is there anything else we need to know here about from that savage place, or can we focus on Lord Moldyshorts' movements here now?"

After a series of nods, the meeting dissolved into the usual topics, mostly regarding Death Eater spies in the Ministry, identity confirmation, the random attacks and Voldemort's efforts to find the prophecy child, something that had James in particular bristling. Still, it was pretty tame in comparison to the dramatic fear and tension that had ensnared the start of this meeting and this was stuff that they actually could affect, alter or stop. Problems that they could fully understand, not malicious monsters hidden deep in mystery or possibly in the form of innocent little boys. No thanks, that's Dumbledore's problem now.

….

Life at the castle certainly turned interesting after that. True to his word, Dumbledore had brought Perseus to Hogwarts the next day and when the Ministry found out about the boy and where he came from, Albus gave the Minister one look at Perseus and basically told him to deal with it before walking through the main gates which seemed all too happy to let the boy pass safely through. With all the shields protecting the school from malicious creatures forever in place, that was all Albus needed to assure himself that he was making a good decision and to shut the Minister up. The wards were the best known in the world, if the boy's breeding made him in any way dangerous to wizards then he would not have so easily passed through.

Though that was the only thing that was easy for the first few days. Still screaming for his mother and scared of the new set of strange places and people, Perseus had set off water wars like nothing Dumbledore had ever seen and he was over a hundred, taken to duels, fought dark wizards, studied alchemy and an assortment of experiments and, the most dramatic of all, had been a teacher and headmaster to countless generations of children witches and wizards! If it was nearby and had water in it, it exploded and splashed everything with every tantrum. And that was without Peeves making everything worse.

Still, he finally started settling down after almost a week. Though still calling his mother and crying, the intensity had dropped to mere sadness rather than a level of misery and desperation of the world coming to an end, not that anyone blamed the child for his severe distress. Still, the drop in his emotional intensity had caused his power to stop flaring, something the portraits in particular were very happy about.

Pomona Sprout had absolutely fallen in love with the child and happily doted on him near constantly while Phineas Flitwick had the boy giggling all the time with levitating or animated toys and mini, sparkly fireworks displays. The two of them had turned the trouble maker into an adorable angel. Before long, even the overly paranoid Moody was convinced the boy could do no wrong. Almost.

As the last of what everyone in the castle hoped would be the end of the terrible twos came to a close, wishful thinking, they all knew it, he was just entering the age, Pomona and Hagrid quickly started taking to letting Perseus run around outside. Pomona had laughed herself into a choking fit the first time she took him out. The boy let out a squeal of pure joy and threw himself into the grass, rolling around and rubbing his cheek in it. He was such an adorable child, she couldn't get enough of happy Perseus. And he only got even happier every time they made it to the lake. It was dangerous when his emotions were wild before, but a happy Perseus playing with water was a wonderful sight to behold. Everything about him just seemed to grow, his smiles were bigger, he'd laugh more and sometimes it seemed like he'd doubled in energy. Even the giant squid seemed to love him, letting the boy play with his tentacles at every opportunity. Fish seemed to come in close a lot too and even the merepeople did once or twice, much to his carers' shock and Perseus' delight. It was something they made a point of informing Dumbledore about. The boy didn't just have a power over water, but seemed to naturally have the affection of all marine life. That was certainly an interesting turn of events that no amount of research could find an answer to. Albus even tried talking to a mermaid about it, but they were tight lipped about the topic, refusing to explain a thing, but still quick to threaten him with a painful death if any harm came to the boy on his watch. Albus made sure to relay that to every member of his staff. First years travelled into the school by boat, the last thing he needed was enraged merpeople having a bone to pick with Hogwarts' inhabitants.

However, it was also one these days that they noticed an unforeseen danger. At first it was completely written off, discarded. They couldn't see anything, but one day, while Hagrid was showing an excited Perseus his beloved Hippogriths, a deep low growl had come from the edge of the forest right before it sounded like something crashed into a wall. Whipping his head up as the Hippogriths screeched aggressively, Hagrid had just enough time to notice something big and hairy disappear into the trees. Needless to say, that ended that day's little adventure. Still, it wasn't considered much of an issue. There were dangerous things in the forest and they did sometimes come close to the school, but the wards were the perfect barrier, always keeping them out. It was considered normal.

But it kept happening. Whenever Perseus got close to the school's borders for a fair length of time, something dangerous would ultimately draw near. The lake seemed to be the only safe border point for him and most of the teachers were confident that that had more to do with the giant squid and merpeople protecting him than anything else.

It didn't take long for Albus to see the pattern and connect the dots. It was then he realized that another detail about Perseus' species had presented itself. He may not be a wizard, but monsters still hunted him. What's more, considering the number of incidents to happen around him and that some creatures seen stalking him hadn't been seen approaching Hogwarts for decades, he was even more appealing to these beasts than the wizards were. He was in even more danger.

The realization struck everyone hard and once again, many questioned how this child managed to survive with only his mother for so long. But still, as horrible as that was for Perseus, it did bring some reassurance to the Order. After all, Voldemort was still pressing hard to get the kid, but this meant that even if the horrible day came that he succeeded, the child was far less likely to be capable of giving him the edge over the monsters that they feared. At least they had managed to decrease one fear when they gained another.

….

Time passed and the day for rejoice throughout the Wizarding World finally came. On Halloween of all nights, the Dark Lord had finally been defeated. All of the magical UK was exploding with joy. The Muggles were completely baffled by the events. Owls swarmed the skies all over the country, fireworks decorated cities, wizards were buzzing around the Muggle streets laughing and cheering in their robes, telling the Muggles to party and celebrate alongside them. Many did. A party was a party and the witches and wizards sure were spirited. Who cared if you didn't know a Harry Potter or what he had done to get this kind of celebration in his name?

It was truly a great time. With the fall of the Dark Lord, most of his forces fled into hiding, refusing to admit they were ever part of it, lying low in their civilian lives. However, as wonderful as it was, it was far from the end. The Ministry of Magic would spend years searching for free Death Eaters, determining who they were and whether they were willing or enslaved into it. Then there were others, those not hiding. Groups of Death Eaters searching for their master. Fenrir Greyback and his pack of vicious werewolves sinking into the shadows and other beasts and beings who'd allied with Voldemort running wild. The war may have been over, but there was still plenty of danger, especially for certain individuals. Such as Harry Potter and Perseus Jackson.

There were plenty of rumors amongst those Snape could still mingle with. A lot of Voldemort's forces were curious about Harry. He was clearly greatly powerful, he'd have to be to defeat the undefeatable, and he came from an ancient bloodline. Halfblood or not, he could be a new Dark Lord, if he was raised right, maybe even the greatest of all. Others simply wanted to kill the boy in vengeance for their 'lost paradise'.

Then there was Perseus, another powerful boy with potentially amazing connections that Voldemort had been so keen on taking. Like Harry, he was extremely powerful and an impressionable infant. All of this also suggested a potentially amazing Dark Lord, complete with the potential of a new, vicious army.

Unknown to most of the world, Perseus also still had the monsters chasing him too and Albus had no idea how Sally had stopped that from happening, for he was sure the secret of avoiding such creatures had been in her head rather than Perseus' body. So, even with the threat of Voldemort gone, sending him home was out of the question. He doubted Perseus would survive a day outside of Hogwarts, the beasts that noticed him near the castle border made that perfectly clear. So while Harry would go to his aunt and uncle's home, Perseus would remain under his protection at Hogwarts. Whether the rest of the world liked it or not, this was the best Albus could do to keep both of them safe and he would face whatever complaint came his way with an unyielding resolve.

The child of the prophecy and the powerful hybrid of America. Both boys had great destinies before them and Dumbledore was determined to see them reach them.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Blessing Of Neptune**

As the years went by, Perseus grew happy and healthy within the castle walls. Caring for a toddler and through to a young boy was definitely an unexpected challenge for the school's staff, especially in a huge castle with countless students and ways to get lost, not even counting the damn poltergeist, but they did their best and adapted. And when that didn't work, they had an army of kids and ghosts to help track the missing runt down. Though many of the ghosts were a little iffy of him at times and some of the students could be much too judgmental, for the most part it worked out fine.

Perseus quickly grew to become a very happy, friendly boy with a head for adventure, though that got in into a lot of trouble, much to the amusement and headache inducing exasperation of those who cared for him. It didn't help that he had ADHD. That had been discovered very quickly. His attention was easily picked up or lost and he could never sit still. It made keeping up with the little boy very tricky and had him stumbling places he really shouldn't go. Trying to keep up to date in conversations with him was near impossible for four years. At the age of six it got better, but only because they could finally remind him and return his focus to what they were talking about in the first place.

His powers developed and revealed more of their nature as time went on too, much to the curiosity and sometimes concern of the teachers and students alike. The boy's temper had long stopped setting off water guns and tidal waves, but Perseus could often be found in a bathroom or at the lake, giggling to himself as he consciously made endless bubbles float around. There was also an incident when he was five. He fell into a deeper part of the lake and stayed under for five minutes. Naturally, the group of first years who saw it completely freaked out and sent for help only for Perseus to pop up when Flitwick arrived, completely confused as to what was wrong before walking out of the lake. Though not before walking on top of it. That day, it was discovered that he could both walk on water and breathe under it. And also, though it was already suspected, that he could talk to fish. When he explained what took so long underwater later, he told Flitwick that the fish wanted to play with their sea prince, whatever that meant. Naturally, those little details had a number of the teachers looking through the books again, trying to determine just what Perseus was and what to expect next. The students mostly just thought he was making it up and had subconsciously cast some water breathing spell. Naturally, both responses had the same result, no new lead was found.

Still, all those powers were related, so Professors Sprout, Flitwick, McGonagall and Dumbledore had only ever researched water creatures. That was their mistake, something that was made painfully obvious when the boy turn six. None of the staff was even sure what caused it, though they were sure some of the crueler Slytherin students were involved. One minute, things seemed normal in the courtyard, a number students sitting around laughing, playing or practicing a few spells together under the watchful eye Professor McGonagall and the next, the downright furious scream of a child pounded her ears and was immediately followed by the shaking of the earth. Full-fledged panic ensued as a sudden, sharp earthquake sent everyone falling to the ground. Everyone that is, except for a six year old with angry tears pouring down his face. By the time Minerva had managed to calm the boy, the ground was starting to crack open. After that incident, no one knew what to think, or, more disturbingly, what to expect next. Perseus was growing more powerful quickly and his powers clearly not as limited as they'd thought.

Unfortunately, that had another undesirable reaction that currently had Dumbledore repeatedly biting back groans and eye rolls. Naturally, a lot of the students had reported back to their parents about the event and the previously known talents of Perseus, something that was now deemed interesting or suspicious by every student in the school. And of course, the parents went into protective mode and brought it up with the Ministry, opening yet another bag of questions and brought a lot of hidden secrets to light. So, naturally, the Minister himself was now nagging the Headmaster's ear off as they strolled through Hogwarts' grounds.

"Albus, I must profess myself confused and disappointed." Cornelius Fudge huffed, adjusting his cloak irritably as the cooling winds nipped at his exposed skin. "I went over the files you put in for the boy and I'm finding myself doubting that there is any truth in their claims. You stated that the boy was a wizard found in the Forbidden Lands when Death Eaters killed his mother. That he has unusually strong magic and that You Know Who wanted him to figure out how he could survive so long in his homeland. You allegedly chose Hogwarts to be a safehouse for him because his out of control power was too noticeable to leave him in a Muggle populated area and so far, that is the only part that I believe. The reports I've been getting on the child suggest a lot more than just an unusual power level Albus!"

"I assure you Cornelius, those statements were the genuinely believed to be true at the time." Albus responded smoothly, neither his face or voice giving the slightest hint of a lie. "By the time we suspected anything particularly unusual, the paperwork was long finalized and Perseus was a ward of the school."

"And yet you never thought to report his irregularities!" Fudge stated accusingly, coming to a stop as he noticed them nearing some of the students. "Honestly, this conversation should have been done at your office!"

"If it was, you'd never see the child you are trying to claim is a menace." Dumbledore replied, completely unphased. "If you are going to complain about his existence here, you really should see him for yourself, get a full understanding of the boy."

"It doesn't matter what he looks or seems like Albus, this simple truth is that this kid is not even a wizard and this is a school exclusively for witches and wizards!"

"He could still very easily have wizard blood. He's simply more unique than the average." Albus shrugged, moving on his way toward the lake.

"Oh, I'm very sure his doesn't, Albus. A lot of people are actually." Fudge responded dryly, grudgingly following along. "The medical reports the board required be presented were interesting enough, even if I don't understand genetics very well. Then there's the Tracer spell! Not only does it refuse to stick on the boy, but when he uses his magic around other people's, our detectors don't only fail to tell us anything of the kind of spell used, but also have a tendency to vibrate. On the day of this earthquake, they shook wildly. We thought they were going to shatter! I would have thought you were going to war with Grindelwald again, Albus! Then there's the fact that he caused something like a genuine earthquake at all! Wizards don't have that kind of power. Spells that can result in the earth shaking or falling, yes, but a pure earthquake? No, not even you or You Know Who ever managed to pull something like that off."

"Yes, even I was surprised by that turn of events. Before then, all signs of his magic had been aquatic in nature." Albus conceded, frowning a little to himself at that one. He had to admit, that still troubled him a little bit. It had come right out of left field and only made him wonder what else Perseus was capable of or how powerful he would become. Both thoughts disturbed even him, though it changed nothing on how he felt for the boy or his resolve to keep him within Hogwarts' walls. "However, you are not entirely correct in all your statements. Hogwarts is a school for witchcraft and wizardry, that is true, but its creation's intention was to protect all magical humans and whatever else Perseus might be, he is part human. He is well within his rights to be here as long as he means no harm to others and in his entire time here, he has only been friendly. Powerful or not, he is no more a danger to the students than they are to each other."

"You don't even know what he is or what he can do, Albus!"

"But I do know who he is!" Albus shot right back as they reached the water's edge, waving his hand ahead of him. "He is a friendly, kind, sometimes mischievous little boy who likes to play with marine life."

Sure enough, just ahead of them, Perseus was laughing his head off in the water as fish tickled his feet and the giant squid gently held him up, all under the amused gaze of Hagrid.

Even Fudge couldn't deny that the boy was the picture of innocence. Calming down as he stood upright in the water again, he seemed to be talking rapidly to the fish while petting the tentacle still wrapped around his middle. Even from a distance, the bright, happy look on his face could be clearly seen and they could hear him gasp as if he'd just been told something shocking.

"I wonder what shiny thing at the bottom of the lake they've told him about now." Albus mused, a small grin and twinkling eyes focused solely on the boy as he ran back to sure and babbled to Hagrid.

"Seriously?" Fudge asked, giving him a skeptically raised eyebrow. "The fish talk to him?"

"One of his more interesting tricks, but yes, it has been proven that they can understand each other." Albus nodded, once again leading them on their way over to the boy. "Pomona and Phineas decided to test it when a few of his comments were becoming a bit too coincidental and confirmed that Perseus was being truthful. They even do anything Perseus asks them too. Even the giant squid is no different."

"Yes he is!" An indignant shout had both men looking to the boy again as Perseus ran up to them, crossing his arms and pouting up at Dumbledore. "He's older and smarter. He has the coolest stories too and can carry me."

"Of course, my apologies." Albus smiled as he kneeled down to the boy. "How is your day going, my boy?"

"It's going great." Perseus was absolutely beaming at him. "Uncle Hagrid showed me a Thestral! It looked kind of strange, but it was really nice. Then I got cookies and came here and the fishies told me there's a window at the bottom of the lake that looks into a human home! Is that true Dumbledore?"

"Yes, that's true. That's the window of the Slytherin common room." Albus nodded, the twinkle in his eyes growing brighter as the boy got even more excited.

"Really? Can I see it? Please." Perseus was practically bouncing with excitement before a thought seemed to cross him mind. Quickly calming down, a small frown crossed his face. "But can we go when it's empty? Please? Slytherins are mean and snooty!"

"That would be something to ask Severus about."

"Never mind!" Albus had to chuckle at that quick response. Snape and Filch were the only adults that even Perseus was careful to steer clear of. Both had a tendency to make him cry before. Now he was starting to develop a sass mouth routine when they spoke to him that only made them crankier. He still ran to Flitwick after each encounter though, who was always happy to cheer him up with tap dancing muffins or letting him sit in on a first year class. From the safety of the teacher's warded desk of course, with lots of parchment and finger paints for when he got bored.

"Who's that?" And with that, the boy was on to the next topic, finally seeming to notice the man beside Albus, and frowning curiously up at him. "I don't know you. Did the defense teacher go bye bye already?"

"No, not yet." Albus shook his head before pulling himself back up. "This, Perseus, is Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic."

"Oh. The big shot, clueless ruler guy who owls you for help every five minutes." Hagrid quite contain the snort at that comment, though Fudge was far from amused. As friendly as he was, Perseus had never learnt tact and had a tendency to speak his mind, an often annoying problem because the boy had a talent for overhearing everything and therefore, spilt a lot of comments and opinions that weren't always meant to be shared. Add that to his own developing talent for sass and some things could come out quite offensive. All the same, while Albus gave Hagrid a look, Perseus was already turning to face the Minister. "Hello sir. I'm Perseus Jackson. Nice to meet you."

"…It's nice to meet you too, child." Fudge responded unsurely, not entirely sure what to make of this or how to act. The kid had just insulted him by blatantly declaring him incompetent before giving him a respectful greeting. How was he supposed to react to that? "I…hear you have a talent for water magic?"

"Yes! Look at this!" Fudge almost jumped out of his skin as the excited boy whipped around and threw up his hands, especially when the water instantly responded and rose into the sky. Within seconds they were all surrounded by bubbles and stars the size of beach balls, Perseus looking around the at all the adults with pride. "I can do two shapes now! I'm doing good, right?"

"Very good, my young one. It's very impressive." Albus smiled down, gently pushing a crude star away from his nose as Perseus' chest swelled at the praise. "Now, why don't you put the water back down and take Hagrid to the Quidditch pitch? The Hufflepuff team is about to start practice, if I'm not mistaken."

"Really? Yay!" A startled scream escaped Fudge's throat as the water immediately dropped, more than one bubble and star dispersing right over his head, but he needn't have worried. Before a single drop touched his bowler hat, all of it returned to the lake. And the second that was done, Perseus was already off, grabbing the friendly giant by the arm. "Come on uncle Hagrid! The Hufflepuff team's the best! They let play with them and the quaffle when practice is over!"

"I'm comin', little bugga!" Hagrid chuckled, easily bypassing the boy. "Can't leave you alone there. End up on da field in front of a bludger, you would."

Albus simply chuckled again as he watched them go. The boy was definitely amusing, no one could deny that, and so easily made happy. Which was good, because a furious Perseus could set off earthquakes and flash floods. He would have to start working with the boy more soon, try to help him gain better control. He was old enough to try now and his powers were getting a little out of hand when that temper flares.

"Do you really see much danger in the boy, Cornelius? Any malice or spite? Any sign at all that he is anything but a child?"

"No, he seems to be just another brat." Fudge sighed, rubbing his temples. "But that's him in a good mood! His little tantrum had him causing earthquakes! Whether it's intentional or not, he is very dangerous."

"Any Muggle you meet will say the exact same thing about us and our children, Cornelius! Do not give me the answer of a child. I only accept those from Perseus." No, Albus wouldn't put up with any of that. After all, Perseus could learn to control just as well as anyone could. He already practiced all the time, something few witches or wizards did on their own power at his age.

"What do you expect of me, Albus?" And with that whine went all signs of respectable authority. Rubbing his face, Fudge turned desperate eyes on Albus, breaking down completely into desperation. "Parents are terrified for their kids and pressuring me and the school board to do something about the boy! He's scary strong, lacking control and from the Forbidden Lands for Merlin's sake! Even you don't have the first clue as to what he actually is, do you? You don't even know if you've seen all his powers! What if the next step in his growth is summoning lava? Don't tell me that's nonsense, you have absolutely no idea!

"Why don't you just move him to Hogsmeade?" He suggested, his voice gaining a little hope within his desperation. "He wouldn't be far away, so you could see him every day and keep an eye on him while satisfying the parents. That would work perfectly."

"It would for any other child, but in this case it is impossible." Albus destroyed that shred of hope with a simple shake of his head. "Perseus was brought here not only because of his wild magic, but also because this is the only place that could protect him from everything out to get him and that has not changed."

"Come now Albus, don't be silly." Cornelius exclaimed, his face growing wild. "You brought him here because of He Who Must Not Be Named and he's long gone now. The boy's been safe for years."

"No he has not!" Albus snapped, causing Fudge to stiffen in fear. All the calmness and gentleness was gone now, his face hardening and his voice turning powerful, firm and dangerous. Now he was facing the Dumbledore that made even Voldemort himself afraid. A Dumbledore no one wants to face. "Despite your claims, there are plenty of willing Death Eaters out in the world who would quite happily go back to their old ways. But even if they were all gone, they were never the only reason Perseus was kept here. Not long after we brought him to England, we quickly realized that his situation was not what Voldemort and his forces believed. The boy is prey to the monsters common in the Forbidden Lands too. Whenever he gets too close to the borders for any period of time, dark creatures start appearing, which suggests he is hunted worse than we are. He would never last a day if I took him to Hogsmeade, Hogwarts is the only place with spells and magic strong enough to keep him safe. So, while he is still a mere child and without the skill needed to protect himself, the only way I would ever have him leave was if he genuinely killed someone and I will not hear another word suggesting otherwise. Members of our society took his mother and whatever protection she discovered that could hide him, so we owe it to both of them to keep him safe. If anyone continues to complain after you explain that to them then feel completely free to send them my way and I will gladly make them grow up."

"V-very well, Dumbledore, I, I w-will hold you to that." All the stuttering Fudge could do was nod his head in agreement and sigh in defeat. What else could he do? Albus was the man people actually wanted as the Minister of Magic, powerful, extremely Fudge only got the job because Albus refused it, and there were a lot of reasons they wanted Albus. He was skilled and intelligent, kind and fair to all, but he could also be firm, dangerous and relentless. The greatest wizard in the world. When his dangerous side started showing through his near endless patience, you agreed to give him your firstborn child if that's what it took to calm him again.

Needless to say that Fudge didn't stick around for much longer. In fact, ten minutes later, he was practically running out the castle's main gates with his tail between his legs. Personally, Albus found it amusing. Still though, he probably should prepare. He was sure that there were a number of parents, particularly the ones who frequently complained about half of his decisions concerning the school, who were going to drop by his office. He should probably prepare some files and charts and viewable memories to put their minds at easy sooner. Or to shut down the more aggressive and prejudice parents. This was going to be annoying.

….

As annoying and exasperating as it may have been, Albus had stayed firm and it had paid off well. A number of parents and other pompous, prejudice aristocrats had come and approached him, but all were sent out either conceding to his points or grumbling in defeat. Some had tried to use the Daily Prophet to argue their opinion with fear campaigns, but Albus had simply invited a reporter to see the boy and interview those who'd been living with him for years, both teachers and students, past and present alike. Time with Perseus and the people who actually knew him was all it took for the Prophet to side with the boy and reassure the public that there was nothing to worry about. Combining that with how long he'd already been at the school without causing any real injuries, even as the years went on and the boy only grew bigger and stronger, the general public soon got used to the idea of him and moved on.

Still, there would always be those who hated him simply for existing and where he existed. The wizards couldn't even live without prejudice within their own kind, why would his case be any different? Besides a lot of them feared him more than hated him and that went away quickly enough when they got to know him. He could handle that just fine.

It was the others that got to him, mostly pureblood supremacy types. Normally, Perseus could handle that just fine too. They made him angry, enough to punch them in some cases, but mostly he simply retorted with as much attitude and snarky comments that they gave him and shrugged it off. Living most of his life with hundreds of teenagers had given him quite the arsenal of witty remarks and a surplus of attitude to call on when needed at a very young age and he was always more than happy to set them loose on anyone who tried to upset him.

But still, he was only a ten year old boy. He could only take it for so long before it built up and overwhelmed him. Like it had today.

He'd heard it all before, of course, the sneers, the condescending tones, the cruel claims of being a freak, a filthy half breed of a savage, of not belonging at Hogwarts. Normally he'd shrug it all off in a heartbeat and retaliate with some claims of his own. His favorite as of late was calling them inbred retards, something he'd picked up from a pair of first year Gryffindor twins. But this time, he was already having an off day and they'd managed to strike a chord. Instead of retaliating, he simply stomped off, leaving them stumbling as the earth shook in synchronicity with his struggles to suppress his sobs.

Now, far from sight of everyone, he wasn't even trying to hold them back, simply letting them out as tears fell down his cheeks. He just couldn't understand why they were so mean. He knew he was the only one of his kind, that he wasn't ever going to find another! He knew he wasn't a wizard like everyone else! He knew he had no family and that his true home was filled only with Muggles and savage beasts. He knew he was very different, they didn't have to keep reminding him. Why did that mean he didn't belong? He was still human like they and the Muggles were and many witches and wizards lived alongside Muggles, right? Why was he a different case? Just because of whoever his dad might be? Ok, so he wasn't entirely human, so what? He still looked perfectly normal and he acted perfectly normal too. Wasn't that enough for them? He wasn't asking for the world, just acceptance and kindness, a place to belong. That's all he wanted, so why did so many people try to take that away from him and remind him that he doesn't belong here? Didn't they know how much it hurt to feel so isolated and different from everyone else? To feel so alone?

Perseus wasn't even paying the slightest bit of attention to where his feet were taking him, he just kept running. After all, the thoughts running through his head were only reminding him why their words were hurting him so much anyway. Dumbledore, Pomona, Phineas, Hagrid, they'd all been wonderful to him his whole life, always taking care of him and trying to keep him happy and loved, but they were all still wizards and adults and he was neither. He'd grown up his whole life with neither a child his age or anyone of his own kind. He'd realized pretty quickly after meeting the Minister that he wasn't exactly like them. He'd always known to an extent that he was different, his powers confused too many people, but it was around that time that he realized that he wasn't a wizard. For the most part, that was ok, but still, it always seemed like there was some kind of barrier around him and everyone else and this only added another one. He saw how all the big kids acted with each other all the time, saw what it was like to play and bond with people your own age, people like you, and he never got that. That was starting to change now, he was only one year behind the first years now, but he'd still spent seven years without anyone near his own age to play with. And now they bonded in the House groups and classes, something he couldn't do. His inability to use wands and cast spells meant that what the school could teach him, what classes he could take, were very limited. On top of that, he was dyslexic and ADHD, making the lessons he could take that much more difficult for him to sit through and keep up, just two more things that made him different from everyone else. With so many differences all his life, he didn't need help questioning whether or not he belonged at Hogwarts.

He was starting to run out of tears when he finally stopped running. Looking around blearily, he didn't have a clue where he was, but he didn't really care, he was just happy that no one was around. He guessed he was somewhere around the lake, a little into the trees. There were a few small clearings around it like this one, right on the forest's edge. He rarely spent much time in any of them because they were right at the edge of the school's protective wards too and coming so close always drew some snarling beast or bloodthirsty vampire or whatever, and he didn't like being so close to something so keen to eat him, but this time, he was happy to welcome the peace it offered for a little while. He liked it actually, there was even a small stream along the side of it, no doubt leading to the lake, so he didn't have to worry about getting lost. On top of that, the sound of running water always soothed him. Water in general did.

Sitting down with his back against a soft barked tree, Perseus took a deep, calming breath and wiped at his tears before summoning some of the water from the stream to wash his face. He wasn't going to let anyone see that he'd been crying, especially over something as silly as this. Most of the teachers loved him, most students were nice and friendly to him, despite everything that made him feel otherwise, they'd always made sure to make him feel loved and accepted. He refused to make them feel bad by making them think that they hadn't done a good enough job. They did everything they could for him, it wasn't their fault that he came from a breed and place that was too dangerous to their kind to find his kind for him. It wasn't their fault that he was in danger outside Hogwarts' protection, making it impossible for him to see the world or visit kids his own age, either. He wouldn't put that guilt on them. Besides, as lonely or on the outside he may feel occasionally, generally he loved his life. Why make them all feel bad when he knew he had it good?

Letting the water fall to the ground, he let himself just relax and took a more thorough look around. A few flowers he'd seen in Greenhouse One decorated the place. It was a really nice place. Which, now that he was paying proper attention, made him a little confused. Places like this usually became popular spots for students. They were both nice and secluded, out of sight of the teachers, but this one was untouched. You could always tell when students had been around. A lot of the plants were trampled and flattened into paths or there were signs of spells they'd played with. There was one place where a seventh year had shaped a bush into a couch, though ash marks or holes were a lot more common, signs of failed attempts or carelessness. Occasionally, with the sloppy, disrespectful kids, broken quills or candy wrappers would be scattered around too, especially in a place like this, where the teachers and Filch would rarely come after them, if at all. No, this place wasn't frequented at all and that was setting him on edge.

"Why would…oh no!" Eyes wide and fearful, his skin paled dramatically as he finally registered just what was around the place. He was given a sense of security by the bright sun and scattered trees in the place, but that was very different to beyond. Right at the border of this field, everything grew very dark, the huge, close trees blocking out almost all the sunlight. In his distress, he'd run too far. He was in the Forbidden Forest. More importantly…he was beyond the safety of the wards.

"Run!" He was on his feet and moving before the word even left his mouth, adrenaline pumping through his veins. His heart only started beating faster as he looked around and yet another terrifying realization crossed his mind. He hadn't paid attention to where he was running before. He was lost. If he kept running, he'd probably just end up heading further into the forest and the mouth of the first werewolf or giant lizard to find him.

"What do I do? What do I do?" On the verge of a panic attack, Perseus pulled himself into running circles, trying to find any hint of the castle. Unfortunately, the trees were far too big and thick, he couldn't find a thing.

Things only got worse a moment later. Panicking prey only makes it easier to track down and Perseus didn't even realize that he was shouting, much less think to quiet down. He never noticed the shifting of leaves and branches, the scurrying of feet. He never noticed the danger until a his entire body was cloaked in shadow.

"What-AAAHHHH!" It was only pure reflex and adrenaline that saved his life. Flinging his hands up over his head as a giant, black, hairy mass aimed hideous fangs at him from above, he instinctively called out to the water and threw a torrent at it, blasting it into a tree trunk. However, that didn't help for long, for the monster immediately got back up and charged at him again on eight, hairy legs.

"S-S-SPIDER! Giant spider!" Quickly backing up to the stream, Perseus threw his hands up again and quickly set off an earthquake. It was his go to move ever since he learned how to start one. On the few times he'd been in less than safe situations, it had been a quick fix, either scaring an angry or territorial beast off or leaving them helpless as the ground itself turned against them.

However, he could only watch with growing dread as the spider seemed to adapt to the shaking. And to make it worse, seven more of them were suddenly exploding from the tree line, dodging a falling tree and coming right at him.

"AAHHHH! SOMEONE HELP!" Who cared about being quiet now? Screaming at the top of his lungs, he felt a pull in his belly as the earth shook even harder and cracked, stunning him as a large fissure split the ground right underneath the leading spiders, bringing loud, surprised clicking of their fangs as they fell. Still, he knew better than to think it was over. Spiders weren't so easily hurt and could climb even the flattest of vertical inclines. At best, he'd bought himself a few seconds. So, he did what anyone would do in that situation: he picked a direction the spiders weren't coming for and ran for it.

Not that he got very far. He tripped and stumbled over roots and rocks, smacked into tree branches and tumbled over small bushes. On top of that, he was running on fumes to begin with. Earthshaking took a lot of energy, especially on a large scale area and high intensity, and he hadn't stopped, hoping to make more fissures or drop trees on the overgrown arachnids. His lungs were on fire and his entire body felt like lead, but he kept going. Stopping meant horrible death.

He didn't get far, but luckily for him, it was enough. For just as his legs gave out beneath him and the spiders closed in, the ground gave another series of shakes and this time they weren't from him. It was more like a constant pounding of thunder, accompanied by a series of battle cries.

"YYYAAAAHHHHH!" Within seconds, Perseus found himself surrounded by hooves and roars, forever accompanied by a fwicking sound and a series of high pitch screeches. Confused, Perseus pulled himself onto his back and looked up only to openly stare on in sheer disbelief. Surrounding him were no less than ten centaurs, all of them firing arrows at the spiders and kicking away the ones that came too close. But, that was ridiculous! Centaurs don't protect humans, they look down on them like humans do insects and get furious if you enter their forest.

"Why would…why would you help me?" His eyes slowly closing, Perseus could barely force the words out as darkness fought to consume him. Quickly losing the fight, he had just enough time to see one centaur, a younger, kinder looking one, kneel down before him with a gentle look on his face before he conceded defeat and let unconsciousness take him.

….

To say Albus was getting worried was a very big understatement. Perseus had been missing for quite some time and they had yet to find him. He hadn't been seen in two hours and the sun was beginning to set. This was getting very bad.

A few students had approached Minerva about the encounter the boy had with some Slytherin second years and how he had ran off, resulting in half the staff and prefects looking for the boy since. Normally he wouldn't be so worried, this wasn't the first time this happened and the students responsible would be punished accordingly as usual, however, when Minerva and Hagrid had asked the students for any sign of him, they had directed them toward the forest. They'd wasted no time searching the barrier's edge only to grow more afraid as he failed to appear. They had some others search the grounds in case he changed directions, but with no sign of him, the very bad possibility that he'd left the safety of the school was turning out to be a very big possibility. Perseus understood the need to stay within the wards, of course, but he was also tended to be impulsive and careless when he was sad or excited and if the earth shook as he left his tormentors then he was very upset.

The fear was only enhanced when, while searching the forest, they felt faint tremors from what must have been a strong earthquake somewhere.

"Uh-oh! Tha's not good." Hagrid groaned, turning back worriedly as Albus stared at him demandingly, holding up a very large thread of spider web. "This is Acromantula thread. They normally stay much farther in."

"Which means something drew them out." Albus finished for him, growing more anxious by the second. That confirmed it, nothing ever drew those spiders out. It could only be Perseus. "Do you know which way they went?"

"I…I'm guessin towards tha' crack in da ground." Was Hagrid's response, pointing a little off to their side. Sure enough, a short shuffle to the right revealed a very impressive fissure, deep enough for the top to pass over even Hagrid's head.

"Acromantula often come in groups." Hagrid muttered, barely holding back a sob as he turned wild eyes back to Dumbledore. "An' earthquakes won't stop 'em! Albus, if we don-"

"I think we are close." Albus exclaimed, already taking off across the field and around the fissure. He could feel it beneath his feet, the slight rumbling. It felt a little off for Perseus' power, but that could simply be due to either distance or waning strength and neither would be a good thing. However, both were signs that he was still alive and Albus would not stop until he was safely behind the wards once again. His wand was in his hand in seconds and he moved so fast that even Hagrid had trouble keeping up with him as he followed the sound of thunderous earth.

It didn't take even a moment longer than it took to cross the field to realize that it wasn't Perseus, but the charging of a herd and that only made him double his already seemingly impossible pace. The fact that he could hear a number of gruff, angry voices and battle cries a moment later did little calm him. His time with Perseus near the barriers had made it very clear just how many vicious monsters could speak coherent human vocal patterns.

Though, he had to admit that even he was stunned by what he saw as he finally reached the commotion. Even he, with all his optimism and faith in all beings, never thought he'd see the day that the centaurs would protect one his children so fiercely.

The Acromantula had been simply no match for half the centaur herd, ten up close protecting Perseus while the others fired arrows from a distance. Every spider was dead and riddled with arrows. Many of which were now turning towards Dumbledore before they realized just he who he was. Even so, most still looked angry and lowered their bows with a great display of reluctance.

"Albus Dumbledore." Before the Headmaster could say a word, a pair of centaurs were already approaching him, one clearly the herd's leader and the other carrying an unconscious Perseus in his arms. "Do not worry for him now. He is fine." The leader stated, though it came out with far more irritation than could be reassuring.

"Magorian. It is an honor to speak with you again." Albus greeted respectfully, though never his eyes off the child. "And you have my greatest thanks for protecting my ward. I do not know how I could ever repay you."

"You can do so by taking better care of him." Magorian responded curtly, motioning for them all to move. Most of the herd gave Dumbledore and Hagrid one more glare before taking off once again, right out of their sight, leaving only the two before them. "A child of his kind is easily sniffed out in a place like this, especially one as powerful as he is. He is in great danger."

"Yes, I know." Albus sighed, turning alongside the centaurs and back to the school, sending green sparks into the air to alert the others that Perseus had been found. "Unfortunately, it seems that some of the students upset him. Never before has he ever forgotten our warnings and left Hogwarts' protection."

"I hope you intend to punish them. His kind is to be respected." Magorian grunted, staring down both wizards with a look of great disapproval.

"Wait! You know what he is?" Hagrid exclaimed, slack-jawed.

"You say that you do not?" The other centaur asked, shifting the boy carefully in his arms before a look Albus could best describe as understanding crossed his face. "I suppose not. After all, the last time a child like him existed was over fifty years ago and wizards have long disconnected from any possibility of seeing one."

"Please, enlighten me Firenze." Albus asked, his complete attention turned squarely upon the younger centaur. "What unique being is Perseus?"

"A blessing of Neptune." Firenze answered simply. "A boy with a very special destiny."

"One that you have already interfered with." Magorian added, giving both wizards a look of exasperation and resignation. "As such, you are now charged with keeping him safe by higher powers than you were ever aware of."

"The stars have told us that he is destined to change the world." Firenze continued, with a lot more warmth than his calm and cool leader. "His place in the future is of greatest importance. Protect him well, Albus Dumbledore, for if he cannot meet it, then all you know will fall to calamity and destruction."

"This child is that important?" The very thought of it was more than a little disturbing, even for Albus, who had long accepted the nature of Harry Potter's destiny. The fact that even as a child, before he even had a choice to choose his own path, their destinies were already sealed was nothing short of horrible. It was very much a robbery of their right to choose. Not literally of course, everyone ultimately made their own choices, but to have that weight present, to be made aware of just how much the world would be affected by your choices, it was such a horrible thing to befall someone so young. No matter how the centaurs responded, he would not say a word of this to Perseus. He would simply continue to prepare for what could come and face it then, when he was ready.

"The challenges he will face are beyond your understanding." Magorian said, his voice completely emotionless. "Harmony and chaos, salvation and destruction. He will one day influence which way the pendulum swings, the stars have promised this. Even when your kind interfered and changed his destiny, this declaration remained the same. The blessing of Neptune cannot be replaced."

"That's a pretty tall order fer one boy." Hagrid grunted, unconvinced as the lake finally came into view, turning doubtful eyes to Firenze. "If even them stars say his destiny changed, how is it still so big? How's he so important?"

"He is the only living blessing of Neptune. Blessings of Neptune are amongst the most unique of beings." Firenze answered, smiling patiently at the giant of a man. "As I am sure you have already discovered, his gifts are varied and many are held by no other. Yet, as he is so young and untrained, I can assure that you have yet to learn the full extent of his powers. We do not know what exactly will occur or the specifics of his place in it, but it will be world shattering and in such events, very specific types of people or events are needed, and even then, it is their decisions that determine whether or not they shall succeed. When there is only one of a specific type of people…"

"He will need to be brought in for any hope of survival." Dumbledore finished for him, his face growing very somber as Firenze nodded.

"This is where we leave you. The young foul is safe and we have told you all we know." Magorian declared as they passed the through the school border.

"Ya got nothing else on da matter?" Hagrid exclaimed as he took Perseus from Firenze, holding him even more carefully than usual. "This is a rather big situation yer tellin us our boy's in here. Sure there's more ta say?"

"Unfortunately, what's to come shall influence the Earth itself. Forces long forgotten shall clash. The chain of events and outcome to such a situation is influenced by countless people. Even if the stars did provide us great detail in our general predictions, they could never describe something this big. A single thought you put into the boy's head could alter his perspective on what's to come and change everything." Firenze sighed, turning to each man apologetically. "We can only tell you that the Blessing of Neptune shall be in the centre of all that comes, with one of the most important roles of all. Since you have taken him, how you raise him could determine his and our fates. Be sure to raise him well."

"Now we shall stay no longer." Magorian stated, giving Firenze a firm, unyielding look before turning back into the forest. "Farewell Dumbledore, Hagrid. Until next we meet." With that, Firenze gave each of them a quick goodbye of his own before both took off at high speed and disappeared once more into the thick trees.

"Albus…" Hagrid started worriedly, hesitating as he turned to looked down at headmaster with the most unnerved expression Dumbledore had ever seen on him. "As much as I complained…I talk to them a bit. Firenze is one thing, but Magorian doesn't give nothin but vague lines. And I know da stars are never that specific 'bout anyone. They never name anyone, not even by title."

"Yes. Normally, it would be 'dark being' or 'warriors'. Not something so specific that it could only be one person." Dumbledore nodded, staring thoughtfully down at Perseus. "Everything they said about the boy is strange. How do they know not only what Perseus is, but that he is currently the only one of his kind? I'm assuming that meant the human hybrid version specifically, as that is the only way it could possibly make sense. That also suggests that the hybrids can do things his father and paternal kind cannot, another irregularity. Nor have they truly told us what he is."

"Yeah, what does it mean ter be blessed by a planet?' Hagrid frowned, scratching his head.

Indeed, that was strange title. He would have to research it once more. Though, if nothing else, this gave Albus and his people more to work with. A race that centaurs respected. An irregularity in hybridization. A connection to forgotten powers. And the title itself, Blessing of Neptune. The name of a planet and a Roman myth. A God of water, much like Perseus. Perhaps Perseus' parentage was associated with the creation of such a myth or at least a similarity. Or perhaps Neptune was the first of Perseus' hybrid breed? If he continued to grow stronger as he got older, he could easily convince Muggles that he was a Sea God.

Still, none of that would sooth his concerns over what was to come. Knowing something so big was predicted to occur, but not knowing what, that was nerve wracking. Personally, Albus would have preferred not knowing, but now that he did, he could only wish that he had more information. If Perseus had such an important role in what was to come, he would need to be properly prepared, but Albus couldn't prepare him for an unknown event.

'_There is maybe one way I could possibly learn more._' He thought as Pomona and the others came into view, all of them having various mixes of worry and relief etched across their faces as they saw the child. However, the thought did not give him a lot of confidence. In fact, the method was almost guaranteed to fail. Still, he wouldn't know until he attempted it.

But still, if the centaurs were actually willing to openly talk about this event and if it truly was as big as they claimed, if Perseus was so important, maybe the weight of it all might give it the push it needed for his plan to work.

The future did seem to be demanding to be heard. Perhaps Perseus would be enough of a push for Sybil Trelawney to see it.

….

He never could of imagined how right he was. Sybil rarely left her residence in the castle tower and Perseus never bothered looking into divination, so the two had never crossed paths before, which to Albus seemed to have been a misfortunate fact.

For as he entered Sybil's classroom with the unconscious boy in his arms, Sybil reacted immediately. She didn't even have time to greet him before her eyes snapped to the child and went completely blank. And when she spoke, her voice was deep and hoarse. A tone she had only taken once in their entire time together and a moment she had no recollection of.

"_Blessing of Neptune stands alone_

_Hidden within where spellcasters roam_

_Until the shadows come from his home_

_Two worlds' destinies once again sown _

_To union or war, the choice shall be swayed_

_The Earth, the snake shall unknowingly aid_"

That was all Dumbledore was going to get, he knew that. It was the strangest prophecy he had ever heard and was more like a vague riddle. But still, it did him some clarity on what to do next. He knew at least one thing now: Perseus was meant to unite two different people. Who and how would have to wait until whatever the shadows mentioned appeared. He was concerned what 'shadows' could mean, but he was also fully aware that he had no way of knowing any more details until they started to unfold. So he would focus on what he could and coach Perseus on the ways of peacekeeping and negotiating. Hopefully he will do his job right. Hopefully Perseus would be able to sway them to unity.

He could only hope that they would all do their part right. Otherwise, if the centaurs were correct, the results could be devastating.

Especially for Perseus.

* * *

**AN:** And that's the end of the prequel story. The main story will begin in May. I'm holding back to try and get more chapters finished before I begin uploading, to keep a longer uploading consistency going. I'm currently working on chapter five.

Thanks again to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed the story. I'm glad you all enjoyed it


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